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30 May 2016

Death’s Head Hawkmoth in KFUPM – Record by Lorna Mackenzie

Lorna Mackenzie found a Death’s Head Hawkmoth Acherontia styx in her garden in KFUPM. Lorna photographed the moth
and kindly sent me details and pictures which she has allowed me to use on my
website. This is one of the three species of Death's-head Hawkmoth, also known
as the Bee Robber. It is very fond of honey and can mimic the scent of bees so
that they can enter a hive unharmed to get honey. Their tongue, which is stout
and very strong, enables them to pierce the wax cells of the beehive and suck
the honey out. This species is similar to the European A. atropos but differs in having two medial bands on the underside
of the forewing, instead of one, and usually no dark bands across the ventral
surface of the abdomen. The skull-like marking is darker and there is a faint
blue tornal dot enclosed by a black submarginal band on the hindwing upperside.
The forewing discal spot (stigma) is orange; in A. atropos it is usually white.
There are two described subspecies, A. s.
styx, and A. s. medusa but they intergrade
widely, and authorities presently consider that A. s. medusa is just a wet
zone/season form, and not taxonomically distinct. The variant referred to as A. styx medusa occurs throughout eastern
continental Asia, from northeastern China (to where it is a migrant) and Japan,
south through eastern China and Vietnam to Peninsular Malaysia and peninsular
Thailand. Also found throughout the islands of the Malay Archipelago. A. s. styx occurs from north-central and
western China westward across northern Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India,
Nepal, Pakistan and Iran to Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

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About The Blog

I hope you enjoy browsing my latest images & notes from the field, the majority are from Dhahran (eastern Saudi Arabia) as well as bird ringing in Bahrain. Most of the photographs are of birds but I will also include other interesting natural history shots when I take them.

About The Photographs

I am an amateur photographer who goes birdwatching and takes the occasional picture with birdwatching being my primary interest. I do birdwatch in an area that has good light for photogrpahy and manage to take quite a few photographs each day.

All photos on this blog are copyright and may not be copied or reproduced without my permission. Please ask if you would like to use any of my photographs for any reason.